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Water Temps for Fancy Goldfish...

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I've read wildly conflicting information on this one -- though the vast majority of Goldfish species are labeled as "cold water" fish, some sources say the fancy, round-bodied type (as I'm keeping) shouldn't have cool/cold water in their environment...that it should be in excess of 70 degrees or so...

To me, I was under the assumption that tropical species need these kinds of water temps, not goldies...that being said, I keep my tank at room temperature, which means the tank and its water is always on the cooler side (I use almost cold tap water during changes/replenishes) and never use a heater with goldies...is this okay? Are fancy bodied types pretty much "cold water" inhabitants as well?

I know many breeders who winterize their fancy goldfish, bringing their water temperature down quite a lot. I keep my fancies at room temperature, so about 68F. You could bring it down to 60F without any real change in behavior. In summer, my tank can hit 80F, and again, the fancy goldfish don't have a problem with it. If you keep the water clean, and have some surface agitation, your fish will be happy at a wide range of temperature, so long as the change is gradual.

I know many breeders who winterize their fancy goldfish, bringing their water temperature down quite a lot. I keep my fancies at room temperature, so about 68F. You could bring it down to 60F without any real change in behavior. In summer, my tank can hit 80F, and again, the fancy goldfish don't have a problem with it. If you keep the water clean, and have some surface agitation, your fish will be happy at a wide range of temperature, so long as the change is gradual.

Thank you VERY much for your response, Xavier! Much appreciated...

BTW -- gorgeous goldies in your 90 gallon! I'm envious!

What kind of filtration are you running? Do you plan on adding any further decor to the tank?

Goldfish eat most plants, they rip out the plants they don't eat and they don't really clean algae, but they will interfere with glass cleaning fish or snails. Once the goldfish are large enough, they will leave smaller fish alone since they aren't good swimmers. Since they are poor swimmers, they can injure themselves on sharp edges. All of the above make it hard to keep decorations with them.